


Agni’s call

by kerosene_rage



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24891136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerosene_rage/pseuds/kerosene_rage
Summary: Longshot leaving the Fire Nation does not mean he has forgotten who he is.
Relationships: Longshot & Smellerbee (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 69





	1. Chang

Longshot leaving the Fire Nation does not mean he has forgotten who he is.

He used to be called Chang. He was the son of two farmers until his father was consumed by illness, and his mother became a shell of who she once was. The Prince was Banished and Chang ran, met a cocky man - teenager, anyway - named Jet, who took his silence not as an attempt to hide the fire-rasp of his voice but an inability to speak, and renamed him Longshot.

Jet is trustworthy, but he hates the basis of who Longshot is without even knowing it.

Much as Longshot tries to hide it, he can’t destroy his own inner flame. It has never been happy with his tendency to stay up into the night; but Jet wouldn’t understand. Jet would likely kill him for having one at all, heedless of how he doesn’t use it for anything more than warming himself on cold nights. 

(Or when he needs to light an arrow - he’s never gotten the hang of spark rocks, and Jet is always too far away to see Longshot prod his tiny inner flame into action. Smellerbee saw once, but she keeps quiet about it. He thinks it’s just because he lets her cuddle when it’s cold, for firebenders run hot and she whines in the wintertime.) 

He knows for a fact that Jet would kill him if he found out. Firebenders are evil, so Longshot is evil, or so Jet’s flawed logic states. If Longshot were more confident he would leave this group, but ... he likes Bee too much, and Jet does offer them some sort of safety.

In a sense. It’s hard to ignore his inner flame, and the feeling of discomfort - like his chest is scorching from the inside out, the horror stories mother would tell him of fire bursting from people’s eyelids when they ignored Agni’s call - grows day by day. It worsens when they meet the Avatar, blow that damn, almost kill people. Innocents. Civilians.

(He didn’t realize that the Water Tribe boy had freed the villagers. It cools the fire minutely, but not enough to make speaking scorch his throat any less. Luckily, Jet doesn’t expect - doesn’t really want - him to speak.)

Jet confronts the Prince, eventually. Longshot had assumed the Prince was either still Banished or - well, he isn’t quite sure. He doesn’t bow to his Prince, nor does he even call out the truth. Jet is too erratic for Longshot to want to tell him that his wild guesses are accurate. 

It was whispered only in the darkest of nights when Agni was dormant, what Firelord Ozai did to his son. The Burned Prince, the Banished, Ozai held his son’s face and _burned_ it off. How the information got out Longshot doesn’t know, but he suspects it’s the Dragon of the West, Iroh - Mushi, sometimes - who sent the first whisper rolling. Or maybe it was a general, or a servant. Hardly matters when the Prince’s face bears the mark of Ozai’s cruelty just how the land does.

Hardly matters when Jet confronted the Prince and was defeated soundly. Longshot didn’t bother intervening - not his fight, and he will not raise a hand against his Prince who Burned for their people.

Not that Jet couldn’t figure out where Longshot is from if he bothered to look. In the sun Longshot’s eyes shine a rich brown - though they’re too dull to tell that if he’s got his hat on, and the fire perpetually rises and falls with his breathing. He’s too fond of spicy food (the Earth Kingdom is miserable in this regard), too cognizant of Fire Nation rituals. His bow - he never can bow how other nations do.

Jet _must_ know. It’s not like Longshot’s fair skin lies - nor his lithe form - nor his eyes, his eyes, Jet is so attached to staring into people’s eyes and yet he does not acknowledge Longshot’s. It’s frustrating. He almost wants Jet to know so this tension, hot and tight in his chest, can finally be released. Angry Jet is something he understands, furious; but - he doesn’t know how to handle Jet this way. 

Jet is released, Jet is brainwashed, Jet is returned to them. He almost dies in the process, but whatever the Water Tribe girl does makes sure that he doesn’t. The entire process is a blur to Longshot - they were chased, there were Earthbenders. Whatever happened, they three (because that’s all that’s left of the Freedom Fighters) surface into the cool night air.

And still that tension remains. Longshot did try to stop Jet from raging against the Prince and yet they fought, and Longshot watched the Burned Prince defeat Jet, and Jet - well, he’s safe now, which he supposes is what matters. 

Longshot is a Firebender, capital-F. The Fire Nation is still his home, despite how Jet insists their only home is with each other. His inner fire still sings when the sun rises and pulls him into exhaustion when the sun sets. He still _wants_ to firebend, run through the movements his mother taught him before his village was uprooted by furious Earthbenders. 

He’s told Jet it was burned, but the ankle the Earthbenders broke never did heal right, and Bee knows. She’s seen the twisting, gnarled scars where the Earthbenders thrust rocks into his stomach after they saw his eyes. She’s seen the way he limps when the cold makes his ankle flare up, sending agony up the entirety of his leg, settling sharply in his hip.

Bee insists Longshot should tell him. It’s a secret that’s important to all of them, because the basis of Jet’s worldview is that firebenders are evil. Except Longshot ... well, he tries not to be evil, which is more than he can say for his fellow Countrymen. He will admit that his blood sang when he thought he’d drowned the villagers, but only because he thought it was to rid them of the Fire Nation.

Ba Sing Se is good for them, Longshot thinks, because they are finally free to be at peace. It isn’t until he remembers the fire in his chest - what he thought was just nerves, the Dai Li down their necks - that he realizes that it isn’t exactly.

He needs to tell Jet. Today they’re in their small apartment, sitting around the table. Jet says something about how cold it is and how they lost their spark rock; Longshot reaches into the middle of the table, puts his left pointer finger and thumb up to the wick of the candle, and snaps.

The candle lights.

Jet’s eyes go wide, his tan face blanching - Longshot gets a glimpse of absolute horror before it switches into absolute rage, and Jet launches across the small table.

Longshot sweeps his arms up. Luckily his fire remains stagnant, so all he does is launch Jet away from him and send him crashing into the wall. Bee shouts - Longshot (Chang, his fire hisses) lurches to his feet, backing away until he is close to the door. 

“You’re a firebender-?!” Jet roars, lunging, skittering back when Longshot lights his hand and swings it in front of him.

Longshot nods, holding his hand in front of him as both a warning and a confirmation. In his peripheral Bee is antsy, knife in hand as if she expects them to fight. Hand-to-hand Jet has the advantage, but Longshot knows just how destructive fire is. The burns on the Prince’s face, and indeed those trailing down Longshot’s back from when mother would rage, are only reminders of the truth.

Fire destroys, and fire creates, a cycle Jet doesn’t understand. Fire is what kept them from freezing to death in winter, and fire is what cooks what they catch, and fire is what keeps the world from freezing over, just as it can burn and maim and destroy. Longshot raises his hand higher towards Agni, lifts his chin stubbornly.

As little as he likes talking (it hurts, most of the time) he knows he has to. “I am Chang.” Longshot says, the fire-rasp worsened by how long he’s refused to use his flame. Fire sickness will probably set in soon, a side-effect of his refusal, but for now he is healthy and can lock his brown eyes with Jet’s black ones. “I am a firebender.” He says, rather pointlessly. “Have been. Always. I lied because you hate us for what we are.”

“Your kind killed my family--” Jet is red now, spitting furious. Longshot does not care.

“My kind were farmers.” Longshot interrupts. He’s heard enough about how firebenders killed Jet’s family - everyone’s lost to this war. Jet doesn’t need to rage against people who were simply born with a piece of Agni’s might. “We used fire to clear fields. To cook. To warm us. We did not _kill_.”

“Your Nation did!” Jet refuses to see his point. Bee flips her knife, a reminder of what will happen if he dares attack Longshot. Surely the promise of fire keeps him from charging, too. 

Longshot’s inner flame finally flares. He shakes the fire away from his hand, yanks open his tunic to bare his scars. Earthbenders leave a path, Jet _knows_. “The Earth Kingdom invaded my village. They did this because I tried to defend my mother and myself.” He drops his shirt, lifts the left leg of his pants. “A soldier broke my ankle.” The fire-rasp is bad enough that he sounds almost like the Prince, all war-torn and furious. “Kept going.”

Longshot lifts his head higher, stares Jet in the eyes. “I have not waged war. I have fought my own Nation because I know it is wrong, but I will not let you pretend we are all evil. We are civilians and we are warriors and we are _people_ , Jet. Our Firelord is cruel but that does not mean we are.”

Jet considers. Longshot watches him glance at Bee, then back at him, deliberating; he finally spits. “Get out of my sight. I don’t want to see you again, _ashmaker_.”

Longshot nods. He has few things that he’d packed up that morning, when Agni’s light was barely shining through the windows and both Jet and Bee were asleep. Strangely, Bee starts packing up too, and when Longshot looks at her she simply nods. 

“You’re leaving too?” Jet questions. Bee doesn’t grace him with a response, only lopes up to Longshot’s side and smirks. Her presence - her friendship - is reassuring when Longshot feels so unsure of what he’s doing.

They leave together. 

For once his fire is peaceful, the tension dissolving the further they get away from Jet. It feels bad to leave him - but it feels good, in a way, to escape their past so truly.

Chang, Longshot, he feels good when he looks up at Agni.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Avatar is on Netflix, so.
> 
> Longshot and Smellerbee always interested me - they were pretty ruthless when it came to that village, but the next time they showed up in Ba Sing Se they seemed way more subdued. they even called out Jet when he was raging against Zuko and Iroh without actual proof, when before they were incredibly loyal to him.
> 
> "Chang" ("长") is a Chinese name that can mean 'long', apparently. it seemed common enough for a farmer's kid to be named it.
> 
> this is also lightly inspired by a fic I saw where they had Longshot be _from_ the Fire Nation, but didn't outright make him a firebender. seeing as this is my story, I did make him one, just one that hides it.


	2. burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smoke is spilling from Longshot’s mouth every time he breathes.

Smoke is spilling from Longshot’s mouth every time he breathes. Bee is very sure that this is a _bad thing_ , especially when he’s also thrashing on his bedroll and terribly pale, even for a Firebender. She’s ignoring how his chest is glowing a bit and there’s the acrid smell of cooking flesh in the air. When he sucks in a harsh breath the glow pulses brighter, dimmed only by the sharp lines of his ribs beneath his skin. 

The sickness started a few days ago. She thought it was a simple fever, and he didn’t really deny her this belief. He laid down when she bitched at him and drank thin soup until that too made his nausea flare, and then he drank water, but he hasn’t been able to keep anything down for the past day. The smoke only started within the past hour, terribly concerning when he’s too delirious for her to help independently.

This is a firebender issue - which is out of her wheelhouse - so she hauls him up and drags him through Ba Sing Se’s streets. He’s thin but gangly, almost too heavy for her to maneuver. But the smoke is coming thicker now, and his coughing is harsh and tearing. She needs to get help. The only firebenders she knows of in Ba Sing Se are the two from the tea shop.

The apartment where the old man and the kid Longshot calls ‘Prince’ (or, well, he makes a gesture that reminds her of the Firelord’s hair thing but smaller, so-) live is easy to find. Jet had dragged them there countless nights until the Dai Li captured him, and the even after that, insistent that they were evil. She doesn’t think that.

She kicks at the door. On her shoulder Longshot’s breathing is growing harsher, not much more than raw choking, his body so hot it almost hurts to have against her. The door opens to the old man standing there, the kid-Prince hovering at the back with his hand on the hilt of his dao. “Oh, dear-” The old man takes Longshot with surprising ease, while the Prince carefully helps him lay Longshot flat.

Longshot makes terrible noises as he stares at the ceiling with glassy eyes. She bets he isn’t aware at all, too consumed by the fire in his chest and how the glow brightens and it looks like he’s burning from the inside out - and - oh. He _is_. Bee sits on his legs when the old man asks, watches the kid-Prince take hold of Longshot’s shoulders, the old man taking place beside his prone body. 

The old man gestures. They’re bending gestures, sure, and Bee isn’t all that knowledgeable about bending, but it almost looks like what that Water girl did to Jet. Healing. Except the old man doesn’t bend water; instead he drags smoke out of Longshot’s chest, the horrible cry coming with that sounding like a scream that died halfway through. 

Longshot arches up as the old man keeps drawing smoke out of his mouth. The burning must have wrecked his throat. Then again, his voice always was pretty hoarse, maybe it’s a firebending thing? The Prince sounds that way, but the old man doesn’t. Bee isn’t sure. None of this is within her understanding, she isn’t a bender and Longshot never explained much to her about his bending in particular. 

The old man glances at her, his lined face crinkling as he smiles. “It is good that you got him here so quickly. Any longer and he would have burned himself out.” More gestures, more smoke spilling from Longshot’s throat. She doesn’t want to know what _burned himself out_ means, except her brain is filling in the blanks and she knows he would have died if she took just a few moments longer.

The Prince speaks this time, lifting one hand to rest on Longshot’s forehead, pinning him down a bit more surely. “This happens when people ignore their inner flame. We thought he was just an archer, because he was with that assh-” The old man gives him a look- “... sorry, Uncle. That guy who hates firebenders.”

“I mean, he hid it from Jet. I didn’t realize this would happen.” And she _didn’t_. Longshot had made a few gestures like his chest hurt over the past few weeks, ran a bit hotter. He hadn’t told her about anything like this happening just because he wouldn’t bend. 

The glow dims as the old man (Mushi?) continues drawing smoke out, letting it dissipate into the air as if it never existed. “I am certain that _he_ knew it would. Perhaps not this soon ... ” Mushi, she thinks his name is, he stills his hands over Longshot’s heaving chest. “I have done what I can. His throat will be too scorched to speak for some time, and he needs to rest.”

“He don’t like speaking anyway. I can make him rest, too.” She says. Longshot’s stopped writhing, limp on the floor. He’s sweat-soaked and breathing harshly (it sounds like he’s one of those firebender victims that breathed in the smoke of their own burning flesh), but alive, even if he isn’t all that cognizant.

The two firebenders (there’s three, she reminds herself, she always forgets that Longshot’s a firebender even if she was the first one to figure it out) look at one another, making a short series of facial expressions that end with the Prince rolling his eyes and Mushi grinning. “I would request he stay here. He is too fragile to move right now. You may, as well, if you would like.”

The kid-Prince called Mushi _Uncle_. She never learned much about the Fire Nation, much less the Royal Family, but Longshot had described them late one night. Ozai of course, the Burned Prince (the kid in front of her), and Ozai’s brother, the Dragon of the West. The Dragon is offering her a place to _stay_.

Longshot had shown her a proper Fire Nation bow a few days after Jet kicked them out. She doesn’t remember the exact motions, but she presses her knuckles to her flat palm, and bows. The Uncle - The Dragon - she’ll figure out what to call him later - laughs good-naturedly, while the Prince snorts.

The Dragon makes a shooing gesture at them both so they let Longshot go. The Prince falls back on his haunches, Bee takes her place by Longshot’s hip. “I am Iroh. My nephew here is Zuko. But professionally I am Mushi, and he is Li.” He smiles somehow wider. “I remember you from that boat, Smellerbee.”

“Yeah, I remember you too. He-” She waves at Longshot vaguely- “told me about you guys some. Called you ‘Prince’ and ‘Dragon’. Real respectful, which is weird for him.” She doesn’t mention that Longshot said the _Burned_ Prince. It’s clear enough looking at Zuko’s face why Longshot specified that.

“So he recognized us?” Zuko looks anxious, maybe angry about that. Iroh, on the other hand, stands and moves to pour water into a teapot, heating it with his hands. Bee makes sure to watch. Firebending isn’t something she’s seen except for during battle, because Longshot hesitates to use his own (which is definitely why they’re in this situation right now). 

“Yeah, but he’s Fire Nation. I guess he didn’t want Jet to kill you guys.” She hesitates, considering. It’s probably worth mentioning. “He said the Prince burned for your people, and that the Dragon gave up the siege of Ba Sing Se. He said you guys were _good_. I don’t know you guys, but I trust him.”

Zuko smiles at this, finally, though it’s still tense and marred by the brutal scar on his face. Iroh comes back to her with a cup of tea which she takes gratefully (much to Jet’s chagrin, she and Longshot had gone to the teashop where Iroh and Zuko had worked several times; she likes green, Longshot liked spiced, which always earned him a knowing look from the old man). It’s good, truly.

They fall into strangely easy conversation. It’s mostly Iroh joking around, telling stories of his day at work while Zuko provided snarky additions and Bee occasionally asks questions. As it winds down she settles herself on a bedroll next to Longshot while Zuko and Iroh close themself into other rooms. She falls asleep to the rough sound of Longshot breathing, feeling almost-safe despite the Dragon and the Prince in the other room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> playing fast and loose with the timeline, mostly because I can’t be assed to keep track of it too hard. 
> 
> Longshot seems the type to hide when he’s injured / sick, and when he can’t hide it he downplays it. fire sickness usually isn’t this bad, but Longshot must have been suppressing his bending for a long time (given how easily he interacts with Jet and Bee I assume they’ve been together for at least a few years) so it would be fatal had Iroh not helped.
> 
> Iroh and Zuko don’t have any beef with Longshot or Bee because they weren’t involved in Jet’s attack on Zuko. in fact, given that Longshot specifically _didn’t_ out them as firebenders, there’s the making of trust here. I don’t really have a super specific plan for this story so we’ll see where it goes.


	3. Iroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is refreshing, that she does not view them as menaces, nor as gods.

What Iroh despises most about this war is how it has affected the children. His dear nephew is an excellent example of this, burned by his own father and sent on a mission with no end. The Avatar, the last of his kind; his friends, of a Tribe nearly destroyed by the Fire Nation’s might.

Iroh soaks the rag again, placing it over the child’s forehead. The child - Longshot, he remembers Smellerbee (Bee, as she’s said they can call her) saying - is feverish, scorched by his own neglected inner fire. If Iroh had to guess he’d say Longshot was from the westernmost portion of the Fire Nation, where the people look more Earthen than not, and yet Iroh can see the grace of Fire in his thin form.

Truthfully, he knows little about Longshot. Looking at him, Iroh can tell that he’s a refugee, given that he’s much too slim for someone of his height. (Still some growing to do - he’s certain this child is younger than even Zuko, but not by much.) When he removed the sweat-soaked tunic he saw the clear markings of Earthbending - brutal scars lining Longshot’s stomach and chest. 

The scars are warped with age, so Iroh is fairly certain they were made when Longshot was much younger. The war - it is cruel, and Iroh regrets having been part of it, but it is much too late to change what he did. What he can do is help this child and his friend in any way possible. 

It is an easy task, truly. Longshot is about as sick as Zuko as when his spirit was rebelling - gravely ill, certainly, but alive enough that he simply needs rest and time to heal. Bee needs little more than a place to sleep, someone to talk to (Iroh does this excitedly, while Zuko is a bit more reserved), and the knowledge that her friend is getting better.

Life is normal, for the most part. Iroh goes to the Jasmine Dragon ( _his_ tea shop!) alongside his nephew and they work until they decide to close, he comes home to the two children he is quickly beginning to think of as his own. Iroh has an idea of asking Longshot to join them at the Jasmine Dragon - it would do him well to use his firebending in a peaceful setting - and asking Bee to be a server. She seems to like talking to people, and isn’t really all that more crass than Zuko. 

Bee is an interesting girl. Iroh has an inkling of her past - the Fire Nation destroyed her home, and yet she worked alongside a boy she knew to be a firebender. She _protected_ him from the Jet boy, who despised firebenders for existing, regardless of if they actually caused any damage. She does not fear Iroh or Zuko how most people do, taking Longshot’s word on faith. 

It is refreshing, that she does not view them as menaces, nor as gods. To her they are simply decent people that are taking care of her and her ailing friend. In fact, she seems to be taking to Zuko well, even sparring him in a playful manner. Zuko too seems excited to have another teenager to speak with - and cuss with, unfortunately. 

They field a number of her questions regarding the Fire Nation. It seems that Longshot didn’t explain much - and that he doesn’t speak much at all, generally - and that she is insatiably curious. Iroh answers most of them, grateful that she avoids asking about exactly _why_ Zuko burned for their people.

So too do they ask her questions. She explains her now-broken loyalty to Jet - and indeed why she hadn’t recognized them, because Longshot kept this secret too - and that she wants peace, just as they want peace. 

The war will come back to them again, surely, but for now he is satisfied to come home to Bee chattering about her day, Zuko finally having another teenager to speak with. Longshot is recovering slowly but steadily, and Iroh feels he has found a new home here in Ba Sing Se.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter to establish a few things and because I think Iroh is neat.
> 
> this was spurred on by aroace2019’s comment: “just let bee and longshot be happy and adopted by Iroh. im sure he could use more help at the tea shop.” it takes Iroh like two days to adopt these kids, lmao, and he _does_ rope them both into working at the Jasmine Dragon.
> 
> so, given that Jet was 16 in ATLA, I’m assuming Bee and Longshot are around the same age. I put Longshot at 15 and Bee at 17, because I think it’s funny if the feisty short girl is older than the stoic tall guy.
> 
> regarding the Fire Nation Royal Family: they tend to have kids _much_ older than everyone else. Azulon lived very well into old age (95), which allows for Iroh to be 56 and Ozai to be 47 (Azulon would have been 52 and 43 when they were born, respectively, given that men can have kids basically whenever). this also allows for Ozai to have a 14 and a 16 year old - he had Zuko at 31, Azula at 33. Fire Ladies tend to be younger than their husband, as in Azulon’s case, but Ursa was about Ozai’s age.
> 
> I’m also developing a big boy plot for this, which is fun. the outline for a future chapter is three pages long, so be prepared for multiple parts and some hefty angst relating to the s2 finale, lol.


	4. wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last thing he remembers is lying on the floor of the dingy apartment he and Bee rented, burning from the inside out.

Longshot wakes with the pleasant weight of a blanket over him and the distinct feeling of coolness in his chest.

The last thing he remembers is lying on the floor of the dingy apartment he and Bee rented, burning from the inside out. Opening his eyes seems a grueling task and yet he does it anyway, for Agni is high in the sky - so his inner flame informs him - and he should be awake by now.

There is an older man above him talking animatedly to someone Longshot can’t see. The man seems familiar, but Longshot can’t remember why. He does know that he trusts the man despite not being able to summon a name. Longshot tilts his head into the soft - oh, pillow, shutting his eyes against how bright the room is.

A hand pats his cheek. More of a smack, really, or maybe he’s just annoyed at being woken up.

He blinks his eyes open to find that Bee’s above him too. He can’t remember where he is, nor why she looks so stressed. The old man’s gone silent as she talks. The words are little more than a smattering of sound that clarify, eventually, into her calling his name in that high-and-tight voice she gets when she’s scared.

The most he can do in response is grunt. Speaking has never been easy, much less now that it feels like he screamed his throat raw (did he? Or-) but either way, tension dissolves from her shoulders and she smiles in that crooked way he always likes.

The old man smiles too. It’s the Dragon, something Longshot remembers only when he puts together the Earthen clothes and the genial face. Which means -

“Please lay back down, you are still ill-” The Dragon is saying, hands pressing down on Longshot’s bare shoulders (where did his shirt go?) to stop him from rising. (And when did he try to sit up?) Bee’s hands swat the Dragon’s hands (his name is Iroh, Longshot thinks, maybe) away and hers replace them, pressing surely. 

He yields. The bed feels like an actual bed, or at least more robust than the thin bedroll he’s used for years. Laying on it is more preferable to the nausea that comes with sitting up - even if the _Dragon_ is staring down at him. “Look, ‘Shot, he’s okay, he’s cool. We can trust him.” Bee says, her small hand brushing through his hair. His hat, presumably, was placed elsewhere by her. 

He eyes the Dragon - Iroh, who is sitting back looking serene, if remarkably concerned. Someone else moves around in the background. The _Prince_? It makes sense that the Prince is with Iroh, he supposes. The Prince waves, smiling in a way that suggests he’s nervous. Why is _he_ nervous? Shouldn’t Longshot - but the Prince is Banished, and -

Bee taps his face again. “Focus. He’s cool. _They’re_ cool.” She repeats - insists, actually, gesturing at the Prince. “Look, dumbass, _you’re_ the one who let yourself get this sick, I’unno where you wanted me to go. It’s not like there’re any other firebenders in this city.” To which Longshot nods, agreeing to keep Bee from rightfully berating him further.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” The Dragon waits for a headshake, then laughs. He seems strangely friendly - then again, he acted that way when Longshot and Bee went to his shop, even passing small packets of fire flakes to him and bean curd puffs for Bee when they ordered tea. “You can call me Iroh. My nephew over there is Zuko, but you seem to know that already.”

It feels wrong to call them by their names, but he supposes they aren’t the Prince or the Dragon anymore, they’re simply more refugees. The last he heard the Fire Nation had denounced them both anyway. Again he nods, raising a hand and vaguely signing his name.

“Oh, yes, I know your name too. Bee here has been cursing it for days.” Iroh still seems amused. His words are confusing, though - has Longshot been out for days? Since when did Bee let them call her by her nickname? He gets the feeling that he missed a lot, given how Bee is comfortable enough to let her guard down around them.

“Damn right I have been.” Bee prods the soft spot below where his shoulder and collarbone meet. Both of them know it doesn’t bother him, and yet Bee does it again. It’s sort of her way of showing she’s concerned - and her way of indicating she’s pissed at him for not admitting how sick he was. 

It feels strange to call the Dragon by his name, just as it feels strange to push himself up and not feel his chest burn. Iroh retracts his hands when Longshot looks, while Bee’s are easily brushed away. He presses his knuckles against his palm, proper-enough form, and bows. He’d hidden this urge when Jet was confronting them, and now he can act on it.

The Prince - Zuko sounds confused. “You don’t have to bow. We aren’t - we aren’t Royals anymore.” He almost seems uncomfortable. Iroh, though, waves his hand vaguely.

Signing is comfortable and easy compared to speaking. He’s sure it would agitate his already burned throat, anyway. _You burned for us._ He doesn’t need to continue that statement, nor does he think Zuko would appreciate it if he did. _Helped me._ Exhaustion consumes him all too quickly, movement still all too taxing on his fire-scorched body. 

Bee knows him all too well. Her narrow hands grasp his shoulders and push him back down, just rough enough that he knows she’s not as frightened. How shaky she was makes him think that she believed he would die; but he didn’t, and so he slips into blackness yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longshot is selectively mute, and so communicates through body language, sign language if he can find someone who knows it, and the occasional short sentence. because he’s a farmer’s kid-turned-refugee, he can’t write, but can read well enough.
> 
> Bee learned how to understand sign language because she wanted to be able to actually communicate with Longshot instead of just talking at him and asking yes / no questions. Iroh and Zuko learned sign language on their travels around the world. because there’s no real standardization to sign language between the four nations, Longshot does use a lot of home signs (so ones he invented himself), which he has to teach to them. (also complicating things is that he can’t really spell, lmao.)
> 
> I made an executive decision and had the Jasmine Dragon serve little snack things given, well, Iroh. he has general Earth Kingdom snacks and some Fire Nation snacks, which he snuck to Longshot and Bee when they came for tea. 
> 
> so what I’m saying is: Iroh was trying to adopt Longshot and Bee long before the events of chapter 2, lmao.
> 
> also: the map I’m using is https://funnyjunk.com/channel/bendingtime/Book+1+water+map/givRGtv/ and I am assuming that it circles around (so the westernmost portion of the Fire Nation is also close to the easternmost portion of the Earth Kingdom).
> 
> final note is that my favorite thing is Longshot saying 'thank you' and _immediately_ passing out.


End file.
